TOMMY ALEXANDER "Feelings" (Fluff and Gravy)
Add Date: 10/25/2022
Release Date: 10/28/2022
FCC: Clean
Focus Tracks: Feelings, Backslide, Something Light
Formats: Non-Comm AAA, AMA, Folk, NACC Top 200
RIYL: Built To Spill, BIg Thief, Johnny Cash
Tommy Alexander has never quite known where he was going, just to keep moving.
In 2018 Alexander founded Pilot Light Booking. Pilot Light was a booking agency that initially revolved around Portland’s close knit songwriting community. In June of 2020, bored and sitting on a finished record, Alexander released Waves. A collection of songs that garnered modest attention in the press, including the title track being named the 3rd best song of the year by KEXP Radio DJ, Greg Vandy and Magnet Magazine calling the Waves the 10th best Indie Album of the year. Waves was recorded live in Enterprise, OR by Bart Budwig.
Alexander moved to Nashville in April of 2021. With touring slowly coming back, Alexander was ready to make a new record and dive back into booking tours. He would go on to book more than 800 shows between April 2021 and April 2022, and was responsible for a roster of 25 artists. The self taught booking agent was putting together thoughtful national and regional tours, as his Pilot Light Booking had grown into a roster of more than 50 artists, gaining regional and even national attention.
While in Nashville Alexander linked up with producer Andrija Tokic. Tokic put a band together of Nashville session musicians including Chris Scruggs, Jo Schornikow, Megan Coleman, “Little” Jack Lawrence, Billy Contreras, and Dillon Watson. This band would make a record that we now refer to as, Feelings. On Feelings, we find Alexander delving deeper than ever into his own emotional state through a poetic and approachable songwriting lens.
In April of 2022, Alexander was offered a job to book tours at Wasserman Nashville, one of the most respected music booking teams in the world. As hard as it was to let go of Pilot Light Booking and the idea of a dense touring schedule of his own, Alexander knew this was something he needed to pursue. So here we are. A new record and a strange journey continued.
Over the years, Alexander has shared shows with Big Thief, Michael McDonald, Mac Demarco, Chaka Khan, and People Under the Stairs among many others.
Feelings was recorded in Nashville at The Bomb Shelter with Engineer Producer Andrija Tokic. The record was primarily tracked live over five sessions and choice over dubs were made. Alexander credits Tokic as a wizard of audio.